St. John’s loses top N.J. recruit to Ohio State

AS WORD began to leak Friday night, panic hit. Questions followed. St. John’s fans stormed Twitter and message boards expressing concern, wondering how the school lost prized New Jersey recruit Luther Muhammad to Ohio State after doggedly recruiting the fourstar guard for two years.

And, somehow, it turned into a referendum into the program’s recruiting methods. But in reality, losing Muhammad, who announced his decision Friday night, merely displayed the current state of St. John’s: A program in between, lacking the results needed to land premier high school prospects at the moment.

Approaching Year 3 of the Chris Mullin era, St. John’s doesn’t have ample playing time to offer, and there is no track record for the current coaching staff to lean on, just two losing seasons. Which is what makes this such a vital season in Queens.

“[Winning] always helps,” Mullin said in a phone interview. “It’s part of the process. You don’t just show up and do all these things. It takes time. If you don’t have the patience and guts to do it, you get gobbled up. That’s proven. I feel good about [our recruiting].”

Losing Muhammad, from Jersey City powerhouse Hudson Catholic, is the latest example of St. John’s recent downward recruiting trend. Just a few weeks ago, four-star wing Sid Wilson of The Bronx left the program and transferred to Connecticut less than three months after committing, citing personal reasons. They also missed being in the final five for five-star wing Nassir Little of Florida. The Red Storm did well to pick up a commitment from three-star forward Josh Roberts of Alabama, the lone member of the 2018 class.

But when asked if St. John’s is struggling in recruiting, Mullin said: “I would say look at our top nine guys. We have nine good players that came from somewhere.”

St. John’s, the program that recruited Muhammad the longest and hardest, was considered his favorite for several months. Assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih, who also is heavily involved in recruiting, developed a close relationship with the Hudson Catholic star and his mother, Michelle Epps. Muhammad came to campus several times, and took an official visit there in late June. As recently as Tuesday, there still was the expectation he would be coming to Queens.

It is believed St. John’s was in part done in by an avalanche of negative recruiting, other programs using the losing seasons under Mullin against them, along with the bevy of guards who could limit Muhammad’s playing time at the outset. The Hudson Catholic coaching staff wasn’t an ally, a source said, which Hudson head coach Nick Marinello described as “false.” Andrew Slater, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.com, believed Muhammad’s decision came down to wanting to leave the area.

“Matt worked his tail off. He did an unbelievable job of recruiting him,” Marinello said. “I think it came down to [Muhammad] taking visits and being more comfortable with other schools.”

The perception exists that the recruiting structure at St. John’s is different from that of most high-major programs, that Abdelmassih does most of the recruiting. But Mullin said the entire staff chips in. In the Twitter and recruiting-crazy age, everyone knows who is seeing whom. It has become more than a one-man job.

“Very few, if any, staffs operate like St. John’s,” Slater said. “To a degree, it puts them at a competitive disadvantage.”

Then again, the current roster looks formidable, a group predicted by some to finish in the top half of the Big East. It’s a mix of quality high-school recruits, such as Shamorie Ponds, Kassoum Yakwe and Marcus LoVett, transfers Marvin Clark Jr., Justin Simon and Tariq Owens, and former junior college star Bashir Ahmed.

It’s up to them, and the coaching staff, to produce oncourt results. Future recruiting classes may depend on it.